Every
Christmas, our family gives a gift to Jesus by writing something we
want to improve about ourselves. We put it in our stocking, and get to
read it the next year. I found mine from a few years ago and it had to
do with the Mutual theme for that year.
I couldn't think of what I wanted to do until I read Elder Russell M. Nelson's article in the December 2011 Ensign entitled The Peace and Joy of Knowing the Savior Lives. He
states, "considering all that the Savior has done - and still does -
for us, what can we do for Him? The greatest gift we could give to the
at Christmas, or at any other time, is to keep ourselves unspotted from
the world, worthy to attend His holy temple. And His gift to us will be
the peace of knowing that we are prepared to meet Him, whenever that
time comes." In Elder Patrick Kearon's article, Come Let Us Adore Him,
he talks about Simeon and how his "righteous and faithful life enabled
him to be present in the temple so he could testify of the Light when at
last he found it" and that because of his worthiness "he was in the
right place at the right time". Likewise, Anna "departed not from the
temple" (Luke 2:37). He states that even if we haven't made it to the
temple yet, we can still enjoy the blessings that flow into our lives
when we worthily hold a temple recommend.
There
were many articles about the Savior that I loved in that issue, and I
want to keep going back over them. And in general, people can set goals
to exercise, drink more water, save money etc etc, and I really do
believe in setting goals and bettering ourselves. Sometimes I want to
set the coolest or most resolutions to prove myself to somebody else.
And I did set goals to not have as many anxiety attacks, show more
appreciation for Bear, and learn new crafty skills. I said I wanted to
be more careful with money and share my piano skills to help at church.
But
after reading all of these articles, and after seeing everyone's goals
and reminders to attend the temple every month, it has finally hit me
that that should be my ultimate goal. Getting to the temple every month
is super hard, especially where we are at school. But like my high
school classmate's facebook status today:
"It's
all about priorities. If you want something bad enough, you WILL make
it happen." And I've already been to the Nauvoo Temple twice during the
break. It's my favorite. I can do it. That is my gift to Jesus.
